Description:

This hack makes plentiful changes to the original Link’s
Awakening DX to make the game harder and add lots of new bonus
content.

For version 2.0, the author want to thank a few people for their helpful reviews and taking the time to give me some feedback so he could hopefully improve the hack for the better.

He really appreciate your reviews. He read them all carefully, and tried his best to address all your concerns and frustrations.

In version 2.0, the difficulty was adjusted to be easier, and most of the modifications to the original level design were removed.

Enemies now do 2x damage, compared to 4x damage in 1.0, and all one-hit kills were removed. The health values of enemies are back to their original values now, as well. In version 1.0 enemies had double health.

Lastly, in version 2.0, the trading sequence is completely optional.

What’s NEW?

A few minor ASM stuff.

No recovery hearts or fairies can be found.

Enemies deal 2x damage.

Added many new rooms/caves! These areas were originally unused assets in Link’s Awakening, so nothing is being removed or replaced! They have been hidden in dungeons and on the world map. Try to find them all!

Owl statues will give new hints on the location of many secrets, but remember that not every new secret will have a hint. If you don’t want to be spoiled on the locations of secrets, then don’t read the Owl Statues.

All 26 seashells are required to get the Level 2 sword. Because of this, 3 missable seashells needed to be relocated. The two you get from the seashell mansion, and the one you get using the rooster by Kanalet Castle.

Basically, you have 3 new seashells to find.

You can now enter the mysterious “impossible” room in Eagle Tower! Wonder what could be in there?

All recovery hearts, arrows, bombs, magic powder, & rupee sprites have been re-used. They are now enemies, or something else.

You’ll have to buy supplies at the shop if you run out.

A new super hidden Level 3 sword.

A new tunic. (with all new graphics for the sub-menu)

A new Trendy Game with a mystery twist!

No more stealing! You start the game with the stealing picture now, so no need to worry about missing it.

Guardian Acorns and Pieces of Power are quick pick-ups now. Like a rupee or heart, simply walk over it.

No more low-health beeping.

No more annoying text from objects when you touch them.

All enemy resistances are changed. For example, the hookshot might stun enemies instead of killing them. (or they are immune to it) Rediscover what items affect what!

Reduced invincibility time by 100% after you get a game over and choose to continue. (no running through stuff!)

Reduced invincibility time by ~80% after you use a secret medicine to restore health. (same reason as above)

A few minor changes to enemy AI.

New font. Closely similar to that from the Oracle games.

Many palette modifications. The original game had some minor issues with loading palettes in a few areas.

Fixed the tunic glitch from the original game when you kill a lot of enemies.

Screenshots:

Credits:

User Review Information

Too frustrating for its own good

Don’t get me wrong, Link’s Awakening is one of my favorite games of all-time. However, Link’s Awakening DX Hero Mode takes its difficulty to frustratingly high levels. As the game implies, it increases the enemy damage. Certain mid-boss/boss attacks, spikes/cacti and lava are a one-hit kill that your potion can’t protect against. This is extremely frustrating because you don’t know which attacks one-shot you until Link gets hit by one.

The 4x damage and lower invincibility frames also leaves very little room for error in some parts, causing quite problematic situations for the player.

The game already punishes you for dying, meaning if you screw up once, you’ll likely end up costing yourself the game’s best ending because of a boss killing you in one hit that you never knew about until you got hit by it.

I’d suggest playing Quality of Life Improvements, by the same ROM hacker, which has the same QoL improvements besides the unfair difficulty. Until then, can’t recommend this.